Baguette Bistrot + Bar, ASCOT

Baguette is a long time French restaurant residing in Ascot. It doesn’t look like much from the outside as you first step into the venue and enter via the bar, but it opens up to a spacious yet intimate seating area. We were seated between a large shelf showcasing their wine list and a beautiful garden with fairy lights and water feature to set a relaxing ambience.

Sticking to popular French cuisine, we started off with the Foie gras parfait which was served with caramel apples, feijoa relish and crostini. The parfait was soft and fluffy and spread across the toasted bread with ease, it was smooth, full of flavour and delicious that paired well with the sweet caramel apple. I didn’t really enjoy the feijoa relish but I believe that just came down to personal preference as my companion seemed to think it tasted fine.  The only downside to the plate was the crostini was a little burnt around the edges but that really is was a minor issue in a great dish.

Duck liver & foie gras parfait, apple caramel, feijoa relish, crostini

Up next, I ordered the lamb rump served with garlic risotto and cabernet sauvignon jus. I thought this dish was excellent.  The lamb was beautifully pink in the center and was tender and juicy all through while the risotto was cooked perfectly; rice was not too hard or too mushy, which is somewhat a common problem when ordering risotto. Fava beans added a nice texture to the dish which i really enjoyed.

Rump lamb, wild garlic risotto and fava beans, Cabernet Sauvignon jus

Thoa ordered the fish (being salmon on that particular night) with king prawns, artichoke, baby potatoes and chorizo. I had a sneaky taste of the fish and though it was good. The fish and lemon sabayon sauce are amazing together however the she mentioned that it would have been nicer if the skin was crisps all through. It wasn’t advertised as crispy skin salmon but i guess you expect it seeing as most places do it and it works so well with salmon.

Sautéed king prawns, artichoke, baby potatoes, chorizo, spinach, lemon sabayon

The flavours and seasoning were excellent in both mains, not once did we even had to think about adding salt or pepper to our meals. Serving sizes were big as well, big enough that after entree, wine and mains, we were too full to have dessert, which is something I’m still regretting. I’ll have to order something lighter next time so I can fit in dessert and possibly some cheese.  I do hope that next time I dine here though, there will be a bigger selection from their fromage menu as I only recall a choice of four cheeses.

The service was good; we were treated well from the moment we arrived to when we left. Wait staff were attentive and friendly and did everything correctly and promptly. Everything was offered to us and we never found ourselves wondering where our food was or asking for our water to be refilled. We even got some friendly byes from the chefs behind the pass on our way out. All in all a very pleasant experience at Baguette and is definitely a place I’ll be revisiting in the near future.

Food: 9/10
Service:10/10
Value: 8/10
Atmosphere: 8.5/10

Overall: 9

-wd